Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Perspectives On Marginalized Adult Populations In Education, Chaundra L. Whitehead, Lori Ann Gionti, Carolyn Meeker, Gisela Vega

South Florida Education Research Conference

No abstract provided.

Graduates’ Perspective Of Urban Teacher Academy Program Preparation And Benefits To Aspiring Educational Leaders, Pamela Cross Young, Rochonda Nenonene

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

As the dynamics of our interdependent society continue to change, the context of urban schools remain virtually unchanged (Delpit, 2012). “Students whose first language is not English, those living in poverty, and children of color disproportionately receive and experience the most disturbing educational experiences across the United States and in urban schools in particular” (Milner & Lomotey, 2014p. xvi). The current teacher preparation model provides little to no experience working in the urban setting. A considerable shift in our practices must occur if we are to improve the quality of education offered to our most vulnerable citizens.

This study investigated …

Focus On Family: Research On Family Learning In Free-Choice Settings, Ana Houseal, Colleen Bourque

Ana K Houseal

The National Park Service (NPS) Advisory Board Education Committee was charged with identifying areas that would improve life-long learning in the NPS. In this session, we will present three components of a project looking at family learning in free-choice settings that emerged from this request. The components will include: a literature review developed for the NPS; complementary involvement of NPS personnel in reviewing literature and their voices; and a look at novices and experts in interpretation and research and their roles in crowd-sourced research. The presentations will be followed by round-table discussions, where participants will explore the ideas further.

Cultivating Communities Of Practice To Develop Local Preparedness For Climate Change, Konda Reddy Chavva

Doctoral Dissertations

The goal of this research was to study the effectiveness of field facilitators’ (FFs) community of practice in improving ways in which FFs and farmers communicate and work together to strengthen farmers’ climate change preparedness through identifying locally suitable adaptation strategies in drought-prone districts of Andhra Pradesh State in India. In development initiatives like the one studied, FFs are often the key liaison person with each community—farmers in this case. FFs interact regularly with farmers, with whom they establish and sustain critical relationships over time. Further, they take the lead in building farmers’ capacities by contextualizing technical information that professionals …

Research Digest Number 10: Parents And Teachers: Working Together To Foster Children’S Learning, Kate Perkins, Pat Knight, Marion Meiers

Research Digest

This edition of the Research Digest focuses primarily on parent-teacher collaboration, considering what research can tell us about:

• why parental engagement is important
• key features of effective collaborations
• critical challenges and issues that teachers and parents may face
• strategies that have helped teachers and parents build effective relationships

Some examples of activities undertaken as part of whole-school programs are also included. These illustrate the kind of scaffolding that helps teachers, parents and children establish the foundations for effective interactions.

The Digest draws on searches of data bases and bibliographic resources including the Australian Education Index, Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), …

When Words Inflict Harm: Documenting Sexuality And Gender Identity Microaggressions In Schools For Lgbtqq Youth, Darla Linville

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

With the adoption of anti-bullying laws and policies, it may seem that things are looking up for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer or questioning (LGBTQQ) youth. We might assume that these laws and policies would better protect them from insults, harassment and violence at the hands of their peers and teachers. In fact, this is sometimes the case. But it is also the case that the insults become more covert, more implicit. Looking at microaggressions gives educational researchers and school personnel the opportunity to examine how gender nonconforming or non-heterosexual youth, or those perceived to be non-heterosexual, are assaulted, invalidated …

University College Connection Fall 2014, Dennis K. George, Dean, Wendi Kelley, University College, Western Kentucky University

UC Publications

No abstract provided.

The Challenges Of Rewarding New Forms Of Scholarship: Creating Academic Cultures That Support Community-Engaged Scholarship, A Report On A Bringing Theory To Practice Seminar Held May 15, 2014, John Saltmarsh, John Wooding, Kat Mclellan

New England Resource Center for Higher Education Publications

The need for and value of civic engagement is widely acknowledged and frequently advocated by students and faculty at American universities. Over the last several decades, recognizing the variety of forms of scholarly research and academic achievement has become commonplace on many campuses. The Carnegie Foundation now assesses and validates community engagement as one critical measure of a university’s identity and success. Many faculty stress community involvement, internships, and various forms of experiential learning in their courses and view them as critical components of a university education. Numerous faculty engage in communityengaged research, working with local organizations, local businesses, and …

Interpreting, Stephanie Jo Kent

Doctoral Dissertations

What do community interpreting for the Deaf in western societies, conference interpreting for the European Parliament, and language brokering in international management have in common? Academic research and professional training have historically emphasized the linguistic and cognitive challenges of interpreting, neglecting or ignoring the social aspects that structure communication. All forms of interpreting are inherently social; they involve relationships among at least three people and two languages. The contexts explored here, American Sign Language/English interpreting and spoken language interpreting within the European Parliament, show that simultaneous interpreting involves attitudes, norms and values about intercultural communication that overemphasize information and discount …

Examining The Process Of Identification In The Mathematics Classroom And The Role Of Students’ Academic Communities, Richard J. Robinson

Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this research was to provide insight into the identities students develop as they interact in a high school mathematics classroom. A normative divide developed which eventually split the classroom into two distinct academic factions: those who resisted the emerging local definition of what it meant to do mathematics and those who did not resist (i.e. complied or identified). A secondary purpose of this research was to understand the role of students’ academic communities in mathematics identity development. Student narratives helped uncover mathematical spaces outside the classroom that each developed their own unique definition of what it …

Indiana, Susan R. Adams

Susan Adams

Indiana was admitted to the Union as the 19th state on December 11, 1816. Corydon, Indiana, located in southern Indiana, was the first state capitol until 1825, when the capital was moved to a more central location in Indianapolis. Indiana, located in the midwest, was formerly part of the Indiana Territory, dissolved in 1798. The first governor of the territory was William Henry Harrison, who served from 1800 until 1813. Harrison later became the into president of the United States, in 1840. Two constitutions have been ratified in Indiana: the first in 1816, and the current constitution in 1851. Indiana …

English Proficiency / Fluent English Proficient Students, Susan R. Adams

Susan Adams

K-12 students whose first language is not English are identified upon enrollment in U.S. schools through a home language survey and are immediately assessed to determine whether English as a second language (ESL) services are required. Students who do not pass this initial screening assessment are classified as English Language Learners (ELLs), or as limited English proficiency (LEP) students, and are identified to receive school-provided English language development (ELD) and accommodations. Students who pass the initial screener or who demonstrate English proficiency two years in a row on state-mandated annual assessments are deemed fluent or fully English proficient (FEP) students …

University College Connection Summer 2014, Dennis K. George, Dean, Wendi Kelley, University College, Western Kentucky University

UC Publications

No abstract provided.

Creating A Community Of Support: An Evaluation Of The Healing For Educational Achievement Resource Team, Ann M. Quintrell

Capstone Collection

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Healing for Educational Achievement Resource Team (H.E.A.R.T.). H.E.A.R.T. is a committee of staff at a middle school in Dorchester. Dorchester is a violence hotspot in Boston, MA, and students in such areas need to heal from traumas while meeting academic requirements. In order to meet their students’ needs and achieve their goals, schools need to practice trauma informed care. H.E.A.R.T. represents a staff-driven effort to meet student needs and establish trauma informed care. H.E.A.R.T.’s effectiveness was evaluated through surveys and interviews of committee members, interviews of the school’s …

Between Sites: Critical Convergences At The Personal, Interpersonal, And Institutional Levels In A Service Learning Course, Kendra Rashaun Brewster

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Set within the context of the increasing emphasis on civic engagement and transformative education, this work addresses service learning as a form of civic engagement that holds both the risks of acriticality and critical potential. This study examines the capacity for the critical consciousness and relationality that define the primary commitments of critical service learning (see Kinefuchi, 2010). Thus, this study is grounded in the ways that the circuits of privilege and dispossession were breached in a service learning course where college students travelled to mentor adolescent girls who were in a secure residential facility. The narratives of former service …

Assessing The Role Of Online Technologies In Project-Based Learning, Jason Ravitz, Juliane Blazevski

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

This study examines the relationships between teacher-reported use of online resources, and preparedness, implementation challenges, and time spent implementing project- or problem-based learning, or approaches that are similar to what we call “PBL” in general. Variables were measured using self-reports from those who teach in reform network high schools that emphasize PBL approaches (n = 166) and those who do not (n = 164). In both school types, technology use was positively related to the amount of PBL use and teacher preparedness. We used path analysis (two-group SEM) to test a model that predicted online technology use in the context …

Teach Next Year – Curriculum & Instruction Department, Lisa M. Gonsalves, Alicia Savannah

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The NOYCE Phase II project aimed “to increase the number of highly qualified STEM graduates entering the teaching profession, to prepare those teachers to be able to teach a wide range of urban students, and to build a continuum of teacher development for those teachers in their early teaching careers.” A report contained commendations and recommendations for the UMASS Boston TNY Program, based on analysis of data collected from the 2013 EOY survey that addressed the five NOYCE Phase II goals, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Competency Standards for teachers.

Boston Writing Project, Glenn Mitchell, Peter Golden

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The Boston Writing Project focuses on the core mission of improving the teaching of writing and improving the use of writing across the disciplines by offering high-quality professional development programs for educators, at all grade levels, K–16 and across the curriculum.

Wipro Science Education Fellowship Teacher Leadership Program, Center Of Science And Math In Context, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The WIPRO Science Education Fellowship (SEF) is a 2 year science teacher-leadership program funded by the Wipro Ltd. Wipro committed $5.1million to COSMIC, over seven-years, to train three (3) cohorts of 180 school teachers, fostering leadership and teaching excellence in science education among K-12 teachers from Greater Boston, Northern New Jersey and Greater New York. Through engagement and collaboration with teams of teachers from different districts, teachers reflect on their own practice and that of their peers through the use of video; they identify opportunities for themselves to take a leadership role within the district, in their building or with …

Early Childhood Open Course Ware, Department Of Early Education And Care, University Of Massachusetts Boston, Build Out Of School Time Network - Bostnet

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The Early Education and Care in Inclusive Settings (EECIS) is UMass Boston's program for both entry-level and experienced early childhood practitioners. It is designed for individuals seeking leadership roles in the early childhood field. The program's specific focus is support for individuals who wish to work in Early Intervention and early childhood programs outside of the public schools.

The goal of the Early Childhood Open Course Ware is to provide on demand high quality professional development across the state with consistency available at various levels of academic rigor.

Assessment And Curriculum Modification For Grade 1 Students With Disabilities In Tanzania: A Pilot Study, Angi Stone-Macdonald

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The purpose of this study was: 1) to analyze aggregated student assessment data from grade 1 students at a public government primary school in Northern Tanzania to determine the efficacy of a curriculum based screen tool, and 2)to examine current practices of inclusion for Tanzanian children in the early grades.

Student Collaboration Online In A Critical Thinking Course, Bob Schoenberg

Bob Schoenberg

This article identifies several benefits of student online collaboration and describes a number of collaborative tools that can be used without charge. The author also shares with readers several different strategies for promoting collaboration, including some of his personal tips and suggestions, based on his experience of teaching an online course on Critical Thinking at UMass Boston. The author argues that online education offers many opportunities for students to learn a variety of subjects, think critically and work collaboratively. However, for online faculty to be effective in their teaching they need training and experience.

University College Connection Spring 2014, Dennis K. George, Dean, Wendi Kelley, University College, Western Kentucky University

UC Publications

No abstract provided.

Active Development Of Tacit Knowledge: Adtk In A World Without Farmers, Roger E. Garrett Jr.

Capstone Collection

Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) and extensions such as Transformative Learning Theory offer significant potential for skill development later in life – reskilling. Despite wide acceptance and deployment, practitioners are still obliged to design their own methods and activities in order to implement these theories. This paper introduces a novel curricular model, Active Development of Tacit Knowledge (ADTK). Educators can use ADTK to effectively implement and scale ELT. Agricultural Education, specifically the training of new farmers, is used as a sample context to demonstrate ADTK. In new-farmer education, it is necessary to compress the educational cycles of dozens of years of …

The Umass Boston Bachelors Of Science In Information Technology, Deborah Boisvert, Ricardo Checchi, William Campbell, Jean-Pierre Kuilboer, Roger Blake, Robert Cohen, Oscar Gutierrez

Roger H. Blake

The BSIT is a 21st Century degree that supports and extends the BATEC vision of curriculum – advanced in content and pedagogy, regionally-coordinated, and industry-linked. Every exercise assigned throughout the BSIT emphasizes collaboration, competence, and outcomes assessment. Faculty and business partners regularly participate in professional and curriculum development to ensure the program’s continued industry relevance.

Gathering Data And Documenting Impact: 2010 Carnegie Community Engagement Classification Application Approaches And Outcomes, Jana Noel, David P. Earwicker

New England Resource Center for Higher Education Publications

The Community Engagement Classification is an elective classification offered by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. In order to be classified, campuses provide evidence documenting engagement through an application process. Campuses were classified in 2006, 2008, and 2010, and will be classified on five-year cycles from 2015 onward. (Information about the classification can be found on the Carnegie Foundation website.)

This mixed-methods, two-part study sought to discover how institutions that received the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification in 2010 approached their application process and to examine the longer term outcomes of that process. How did they undertake a “full …

Children’S Attitudes Towards Peers With Disabilities: Associations With Personal And Parental Factors, Soo-Young Hong, Kyong-Ah Kwon, Hyun-Joo Jeon

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to investigate the following: (i) associations among children’s prior contact with people with disabilities and the three dimensions of children’s attitudes towards people with disabilities: children’s understanding of and their feelings about people with disabilities and their behavioral intentions to make inclusion decisions; (ii) the relation between children’s behavioral intentions to make inclusion decisions and the demands of activity contexts and the types of disabilities; and (iii) the association between parents’ attitudes and children’s attitudes. Participants included 94 typically developing four- and five-year-old preschoolers. Children’s understanding of disabilities and their prior contact with people …

Increasing Access And Success In The Stem Disciplines: A Model For Supporting The Transition Of High School Students With Disabilities Into Stem-Related Postsecondary Education, Martie Kendrick, Marnie Bragdon-Morneault, Janet May, Alan Kurtz

Transition-Age Resources

This publication (191-page PDF) contains a package of evidenced-based transition supports that can be used by educators or instructors with high school students with disabilities who are interested in pursuing STEM-related postsecondary education and careers. The publication contains information and instructional activities related to the following: self-advocacy and self-determination; exploring STEM careers; disability disclosure; the accommodations process in college; identifying assistive technology; mentoring relationships and internships; and using student- and family-centered planning to prepare for college.

Succeeding In The City: A Report From The New York City Black And Latino Male High School Achievement Study, Shaun R. Harper, Ph.D., And Researchers From The Center For The Study Of Race And Equity In Education

Shaun R. Harper, Ph.D.

This report is the first publication from the New York City Black and Latino Male High School Achievement Study, a project that entailed individual interviews with 415 students from 40 public high schools – 90 were enrolled in 44 colleges and universities, the rest were college-bound high school juniors and seniors. Understanding how these young men succeeded in and out of school, developed college aspirations, became college-ready, and navigated their ways to postsecondary education was the primary aim of this project. Instead of further amplifying deficits and documenting failures in urban schools, 13 Black and Latino male researchers from the …

A Reflective Conversation: Community And Hei Perspectives On Community-Based Research., Niamh O'Reilly, Catherine Bates

Staff Articles and Research Papers

This paper is a reflective correspondence between a community partner and a community-based research coordinator in a higher education institute (HEI). We asked each other questions about our experience of collaborating on two community-based research (CBR) projects, in order to share our learning from our collaboration, and to relate this to the wider context in order to develop recommendations for others – community partners and HEI staff – who would like to initiate CBR projects in the future.